'Green Lantern' Movie Cast News: Michelle Rodriguez Denies She Has a Role, Says Minority Actors Should 'Stop Stealing' White Superheroes
"Furious 7" actress Michelle Rodriguez has denied Internet buzz that she may be part of the cast for a new Green Lantern film.
Without batting an eyelash, the kick-ass female action star shot down the rumor, saying: "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
Rodriguez blamed the "whole minorities in Hollywood thing" to be behind the rumor that she is working on the superhero film supposedly slated for a 2020 release.
The 37-year-old star with a Dominican Republic mother and a Puerto Rican father contended that minority actors deserve to develop or play characters of their own.
She insisted this would be a lot better for minority actors instead of playing into characters that had originally been intended for white-cast actors.
"Because of this whole 'minorities in Hollywood' thing ... it's so stupid," Rodriguez told TMZ. "Stop stealing all the white people's superheroes. Make up your own," she said.
But the actress' comments did not apparently sit well with a lot of people, prompting Rodriguez to post a video to Facebook to explain her remarks.
She apologized to people who thought her comments came off as rude or stupid, saying her quote about "stealing" was taken out of context.
"It's not about taking Catwoman or Superman or Green Lantern ... and trying to make them fit to whatever cultural background you are," she clarified, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
"I just feel like it should be more creative than that, and I think that people need to stop being lazy," she added.
Diversity in TV and film has been a hot-button issue lately, with #OscarsSoWhite trending after this year's slate of Academy Award nominees was comprised only of white actors.
Several roles that were initially conceived in comic books as white characters were recently played on film by black actors, including Samuel L. Jackson embodying Nick Fury in the Marvel films and Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch in the upcoming "Fantastic Four" reboot.
